coquina

[koh-kee-nuh]

co·qui·na

[koh-kee-nuh]
noun
1.
Also called pompano, butterfly-shell clam. a small clam, Donax variabilis, abundant in the intertidal zone of eastern and southern U.S. coastal beaches, having fanlike bands of various hues, the paired empty shells often spread in a butterfly shape.
2.
any similar clam, especially of the genus Donax.
3.
a soft, whitish rock made up of fragments of marine shells and coral, used as a building material.

Origin:
1830–40, Americanism; < Spanish: literally, shellfish, equivalent to Old Spanish coc(a) shellfish (< Latin concha; see conch) + -ina -ine1
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Coquina is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
Collins
World English Dictionary
coquina (kɒˈkiːnə)
 
n
a soft limestone consisting of shells, corals, etc, that occurs in parts of the US
 
[C19: from Spanish: shellfish, probably from concha shell, conch]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
coquina   (kō-kē'nə)  Pronunciation Key 
A soft porous limestone, composed of shells and fragments of shell and coral that are partially cemented by material that is high in calcium carbonate and has not completely hardened.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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